Judges 2:22

Joshua left those nations ¹  to test ²  Israel. I wanted to see ³  whether or not the people ⁴  would carefully walk in the path ⁵  marked out by ⁶  the Lord, as their ancestors ⁷  were careful to do.”

biblegateway Jdg 2:22

I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the LORD and walk in it as their forefathers did."

biblegateway Jdg 2:22

in order to test Israel by them, whether they will keep the way of the LORD to walk in it as their fathers did, or not."

biblegateway Jdg 2:22

I did this to test Israel––to see whether or not they would obey the LORD as their ancestors did."

biblegateway Jdg 2:22

I'll use them to test Israel and see whether they stay on GOD's road and walk down it as their parents did."

SABDAweb Jdg 2:22

In order to put Israel to the test, and see if they will keep the way of the Lord, walking in it as their fathers did, or not.

bibleoremus Jdg 2:22

In order to test Israel, whether or not they would take care to walk in the way of the LORD as their ancestors did,

biblegateway Jdg 2:22

"so that through them I may test Israel, whether they will keep the ways of the LORD, to walk in them as their fathers kept them , or not."

biblegateway Jdg 2:22

Joshua left those nations ¹  to test ²  Israel. I wanted to see ³  whether or not the people ⁴  would carefully walk in the path ⁵  marked out by ⁶  the Lord, as their ancestors ⁷  were careful to do.”

¹ tn The words “Joshua left those nations” are interpretive. The Hebrew text of v. 22 simply begins with “to test.” Some subordinate this phrase to “I will no longer remove” (v. 21). In this case the Lord announces that he has now decided to leave these nations as a test for Israel. Another possibility is to subordinate “to test” to “He said” (v. 20; see B. Lindars, Judges 1-5, 111). In this case the statement recorded in vv. 20b-21 is the test in that it forces Israel to respond either positively (through repentance) or negatively to the Lord’s declaration. A third possibility (the one reflected in the present translation) is to subordinate “to test” to “left unconquered” (v. 21). In this case the Lord recalls that Joshua left these nations as a test. Israel has failed the test (v. 20), so the Lord announces that the punishment threatened earlier (Josh 23:12-13; see also Judg 2:3) will now be implemented. As B. G. Webb (Judges [JSOTSup], 115) observes, “The nations which were originally left as a test are now left as a punishment.” This view best harmonizes v. 23, which explains that the Lord did not give all the nations to Joshua, with v. 22. (For a grammatical parallel, where the infinitive construct of נָסָה [nasah] is subordinated to the perfect of עָזַב [’azav], see 2 Chr 32:31.)

² tn The Hebrew text includes the phrase “by them,” but this is somewhat redundant in English and has been omitted from the translation for stylistic reasons.

³ tn The words “I [i.e., the Lord] wanted to see” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁴ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the people) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁵ tn Or “way [of life].”

⁶ tn “The words “marked out by” are interpretive.

⁷ tn Or “fathers.”